Ticket sales for a special service at Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre on Sunday March 22 have been suspended following problems with a website booking system.

Leicestershire County Council which manages the centre near Sutton Cheney announced that 1,000 tickets for seats at the service itself plus another 1,000 allowing entry to the site on the day would go on sale online and by phone at 10am this morning Tuesday March 3.

But a scrum for the limited tickets appeared to have played havoc with the system and scores of potential buyers have been left frustrated.

At first council chiefs apologised for delays and thanked people for their patience in the hope that the issue would be resolved but in an afternoon announcement it was clear that the system was still unable to cope.

Shortly after 3.30pm a county council spokesman said: “Extremely high demand for reinterment tickets at Bosworth Battlefield means some people have experienced difficulties when trying to book.

“Staff are dealing with phone calls and visitors as quickly as possible but we’ve had to temporarily suspend ticket sales while the website issue is fixed.

“We’re working to resolve this as soon as possible and we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

People are encouraged to follow @BosworthLCC on Twitter or Bosworth Battlefield on Facebook for updates.